Foster
by 4kb4
Summary: AU Tris becomes a foster child after the death of her parents. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own divergent. Just my ideas.**

Tris POV

I guess it's a nice enough house. Definitely better than the last place.

"Tris, this is Max and Jamie", said Johanna, my social worker.

"Hi, Tris, we are so excited to have you," Jamie smiled at me.

I gave her a small smile. This will be the 3rd home in the year since my parents passed. The pain is still fresh, I can remember the accident like it was yesterday.

_Flashback_

_Caleb and I walk through the front door after school. We had both been staying at our friend's home while our parents we on a charity goodwill mission to Africa and they were set to arrive today. I couldn't wait to see them after their extended absence. I start dinner and Caleb flips on the television, to the news, of course, and assists me. _

"_The plane has yet to be recovered," the anchorman announced. I glance up from the cutting board to see the headline ONE LIFE CHARITY PLANE CRASH. The knife fell from my hand making a loud bang when it hit the floor. One Life was the charity my parents worked for._

"_Beatrice, are you alright?" Caleb says spinning around. He follows my eyes to the television._

"…_five people were reportedly on the plane, no survivors have been found according to the US Coast Guard…" the reporter continues as I sink to the ground numbly._

_End Flashback_

I am ushered into the house.

"So, Tris, I think you are really going to enjoy living here. We have four other children attending the high school you will be starting as well" Max explains to me.

I nod. I had assumed as much seeing as every other foster home I had lived in also had other children that would attend the same school as me.

Johanna pulls out the forms for them to finalize my placement. I feel like a UPS package, signed over. She gives me a smile and a hug, which I unsuccessfully dodge, and her coined "let me know if you need anything" line before she walks out the door.

"Jamie, show Tris to her room" Max says as he walks into the next room.

I pick up my bags and follow Jamie up the stairs.

**A/N - I hope you like it. I am open to constructive criticism and suggestions. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own divergent. I only own my ideas.**

Chapter 2

Tris POV

"So you will be sharing a room with Molly," Jamie explains as we walk. "She is your age, I believe. It's like having a built in sister, right?"

This lady has got to be kidding me.

"You have a brother correct?" she asks.

I nod, knowing that she cannot see me behind her. She turns around and I nod again.

"I thought so," she continues to ramble on.

Caleb and I were split up when we were named wards of the state. As both of our parents were only children and we only had one living grandparent, that had Alzheimer's, it was the only option. Our parents had a will and minimal assets that Caleb and I would receive at 25, but for now we were just another case number. My parents were too worried about third world children, just assuming we would be fine. They were incredibly selfless individuals.

Teenagers are rarely adopted, we are too late into the system I learned. I was ok with that, I had a wonderful mother and father and they would be impossible to replace. However, I also learned that siblings are not always placed together. It's difficult to find availability for even two siblings to be placed together. I knew Caleb was placed with an older woman whom he seemed to have adjusted to. Caleb was an excellent student and never got into trouble. I was a fairly decent student who rarely was in trouble outside of the occasional tardy slip. However, as opposed to Caleb, there were not foster homes with availability for a teenage girl, so I was sent to a group home for girls. It was terrifying. The girls there could not be placed with families because of disciplinary problems and refusal to attend school regularly. I felt like I was thrown into another dimension. There were fights all the time. Girls would pick fights with me for "looking at them wrong" and then, when I started walking around with my head down people would start fights because "I wouldn't look at them". I just could not win. I learned how to hold my own, but there were gangs and every few weeks despite my best efforts I would end up at the emergency medical care center. I was just too small. Eventually, I was placed in a temporary emergency care home. I assume because my medical bills were building up. After two months, a spot opened with the Millers.

"…any questions?" Jamie asks standing in front of a doorway.

I had been lost in my own thoughts of my journey here and had no idea what she said. I shake my head anyways and she walks away. I open the door to the room and find an empty bed and dresser on one half of the room. From my time in the system I know each child has to have their own bed and dresser, so assuming it was mine, I start unpacking.

"Dinner!" I hear someone call from downstairs.

Putting the last of my things in my dresser I walk downstairs. Max is sitting at the table with three boys and another girl, while Jamie is pulling something out of the oven.

"Take a seat" Max commands. "This is Eric, Peter, Drew, and Molly," he continues indicating the others at the table.

I don't say much through dinner. Then again, no one really does. Max has a football game going on the TV behind my head which he pretty stares at for the vast majority of the meal and Jamie flips through a magazine. I avoid the glares from Eric and Peter who sit across from me, not comfortable from the first impression they are making. After dinner Max informs me that the children do the dishes in his house. I start picking up the dishes on my side of the table as Max and Jamie exit the kitchen.

"Well, I guess we will leave you to it then," Eric sneers.

I look up from the dish I was stacking to see all of them grouped by the back door. Smirks run across their faces.

"Seriously?" I question annoyed.

Smirks still plastered across their faces they exit out the back door, leaving me in the kitchen alone.

"Super" I mutter under my breath.

After I finish the dishes, I head upstairs.

"Tris, can you come in here," Max calls. "I need another beer."

I fetch his beer from the refrigerator and head upstairs again. Laying down on my bed I close my eyes and start figuring out how many days I have left til my 18th birthday, also know as my ejection from the child services system. My mind is interrupted by a pillow being shoved over my face.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own divergent. I own only my ideas.**

Chapter 3

Tris POV

I thrash on the bed, kicking my feet until I feel it connect with something. I am successful in rolling off the bed and gasp for air as I back into the wall. I see Molly holding her stomach, which apparently was the body part my foot connected with. Eric and Peter stand in the doorway with Drew peering around them trying to see.

"You little…" Molly starts.

"Chill Molly," Eric cuts her off walking into the room. "So, you have got a little fight in you, eh?" he says condescendingly.

He continues walking towards me, seriously invading my space until I am flat against the wall.

"Look there is a…" Eric starts slowly, searching for the right word, "hierarchy here. And you fall at the bottom. Max and Jamie are my biological parents therefore I outrank everyone. It's best for you to understand that upfront. My parent's host foster children for fiscal purposes only, you are nothing more than an easy paycheck. You will do what I say when I say, otherwise, I will complain that you are a problem child and you will be removed from this home. From what I have read in my parents communications, there aren't many open spots for teenage girls and you didn't really like the group home did you?"

I have to turn my head to the side to keep from touching him, as he is so close to me.

"You are responsible for chores," Eric states walking back out of the room.

Only Peter and Drew follow him. Molly remains in the room. She glares at me, then walks over to my dresser and starts dumping my stuff from it.

"What are you doing?" I growl at her.

"Its mine, it was mine before you. I only cleaned it out in case the social worker checked to see you had one available." Molly responds in her obnoxious nasally voice as my clothes pile on the floor.

"Stop!" I command.

"Fine." Molly says as she moves towards the door, "I will just see who Eric thinks should have the dresser."

"Nevermind, take it," I say bending down to refold my clothes again and stack them in my suitcase. I finish and put the suitcase under my bed as Molly returns from the bathroom and climbs into her bed. I grab my night clothes and walk down the hall, I see Peter walking out of the bathroom and as he passes me in the hall he shoves me into the wall so hard I get the wind knocked out of me. He continues walking without a word as I slide down the wall gasping for breath.

Finally recovering, I finish up in the bathroom and crawl into bed. Tomorrow has got to be better, I think. Then I remember I have to start a new high school; nevermind, tomorrow will not be better. A tear slips down my cheek. Pull it together Tris, I command myself.

I wake up early to make sure I can use the bathroom. I shower quickly and dress in black shorts, a grey tank top and a loose black off-the-shoulder crop top. I quickly put on minimal make up, to cover the bags under my eyes and darken my blond eyelashes. I slip out of the bathroom before anyone else has woken up, thankfully. I head downstairs to see Max passed out on the couch with a number of empty beer cans in front of him. Figures, I think to myself.

I wait at the table until the others arrive. They slowly straggle into the kitchen.

"Could someone clean up the rec room?" Jamie asks from the hall.

Eric, Peter, Drew and Molly turn and glare at me. I roll my eyes and walk towards the front room and start picking up the cans. Apparently the noise this makes is disturbing to Max.

"Could you shut up?!" he bellows from the couch.

"Sorry," I mumble, trying to be quieter as I continue. There is only so much I can do to mute the aluminum on aluminum noise the cans are making. I assume his hangover is amplifying the noise anyways. He growls and staggers as he gets off the couch. He is unsteady and suddenly falls into me slamming my side into the mantel. Grunting from the pain I slump down as he pulls himself off of me.

The others start walking out the door as I finish cleaning the room. I rush to put the garbage out and run after them. Apparently we are close enough to walk to school. I walk a safe distance behind them and head towards the front office when we arrive.

Here we go again, I think to myself.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own divergent, just my ideas.

Chapter 4

Tris POV

"Welcome to Dauntless", the lady at the front desk greets me.

"Tris Prior," I state and she starts typing on her computer.

"Here we go!" she chirps handing me my schedule, locker information, and school map.

I walked out of the office examining my schedule then the map. Peter walks up from behind me and snatches the map from me crumpling it up and trashing it as he is walking away.

"Another day, another douchbag, huh?" a voice from behind me says. I turn to see a really pretty girl with bronze skin and dark brown hair addressing me.

I give her a small smile, "I guess so."

"I'm Christina and you must be new," she says.

"Hi, Tris," I reply.

"I am happy to serve as your personal map" she smiles genuinely.

"Thanks" I smile back, relief washing over me.

"Where are you headed?"

"World History, Ms. Willoughby"

"Me too!" Christina squeaks.

We start heading through the hallways, I am never going to remember the route. Finally, we stop in front of a classroom and head inside.

"Christina!" someone shouts.

She tugs my arm and heads to the desks in the back corner where a group of people is sitting.

"This is Tris," she announces me excitedly, like I am her show and tell project that she is super proud of.

I nod my head at them.

"Will"

"Uriah"

"Marlene"

"Al"

The group introduces themselves to me.

"Where are you from," the boy who introduced himself as Uriah asks.

"Springfield," I reply.

"How did you end up here," the boy who introduced himself as Will asks scrunching his brow.

"I moved," I answered shortly.

Its not that I embarrassed of my situation, I just don't want the look of pity I inevitably receive every time someone learns about the events of the past year and my current foster care position. Will is about to pose another question when Peter, Molly, and Drew enter the classroom. I take a deep breath.

"Made it after all?" Peter jibes as he walks past me.

I roll my eyes ignoring him.

"And here I was thinking we were the first friends you made," says Uriah with a laugh.

I give him a smile.

The day passes and Christina walks me to and picks me up from every class. After fourth period, apparently it is lunch. She drags me into the cafeteria and we walk over to her table. I remember Uriah, Will, Marlene and Al from earlier, but I am soon introduced to a few more people.

"Tris, this is Zeke, Shauna, Lauren, Lynn and Four," she indicated to the foreign people at the table.

They all gave me a smile and went back to their conversation, well all except for Four. Seriously strange name that kid has.

I pull out the apple I had grabbed from home and took a bite. The group has an interesting dynamic. It turns out Zeke is Uriah's older brother and Shauna was Lynn's older sister; despite the varying ages they all got on incredibly well it seemed. Well all except for Four, who, while not outwardly rude, seemed icy. He had gorgeous deep blue eyes and was incredibly handsome, however he did not come off like other good-looking guys generally do. There was no flirtatious smile or desire to see if he could get a girl to fall in love with him. He appeared quiet and reserved. Why do I care, I think to myself following my extensive inner monologue of thoughts on this kid.

The bell rings and as I gather my things, pulling my bag onto my shoulder, Four gives me the strangest look.

Four POV

As the new girl, Tris, pulls her bag over her shoulder, her loose shirt is pulled up exposing her upper arm. I notice a massive bruise. Good god, that looks painful, I think to myself. I look up at her face and try to figure out who this girl is.

Tris yanks her sleeve down and follows Christina out of the cafeteria.

"Are we finally interested in someone," Zeke asks snapping me out of my trance.

"What are you talking about?" I snap.

He laughs and drops the subject. I am not interested in Tris; I don't even know her. I mean, I guess I was a little interested in knowing how she got a bruise that size but that's normal right? We walk to the gym locker room and start changing. Eric and his crony, Peter, are inside the locker room as Zeke and I walk in. I am not a fan of Eric; he is sadistic, preying on the weak and innocent to get his kicks. Reminds me of someone else I am not fond of. Eric doesn't like me either. I am starting quarterback and he has to play back-up to me or running back if he wants any game time. I hurry up and change and make my way to the gym.

I spot Zeke sitting with Uriah, Tris and Christina on the bleachers and make my way over to the group. The new girl is pretty I have to admit to myself. She has long blond wavy hair and an attractively petite figure.

"To the field, check the board on the wall to see which team you are on as you go. Team A pick up a red penny, Team B grab a blue penny," Coach bellows.

There is a crowd around the board and I spot my name on the list for Team B, as I am about to make my way over to the pile of blue pennies, I see Tris's name a few below mine. I grab her a penny and toss it to her as she continues to strain to see over everyone. She gives me a grateful smile.

On the field I am selected goalie, which is fitting as I am fairly tall and have good hands. The game starts and I see a blond ponytail blazing down the right side. Tris dribbles the ball using smart but not showy footwork. She effortlessly sends the ball soaring to the left side of the field to a wide-open Uriah who takes the ball the remainder of the distance down the field. Seeing the box in front of the goal with a few blue pennies, Uriah flicks the ball and a second later a blond head collides with the ball sending it past Eric in the opposite goal.

"Well that was impressive," I mutter to myself.

The game continues for another 10 minutes and though the other team was smart enough to have Peter mark Tris for the remainder of the game, she was still making a number of plays. We were up 2-0 after Tris laid out a nice pass for another blue penny to drill into the net, Eric shot daggers at Peter afterwards. The coach blew the whistle announcing the 2 minute warning. Our team was attempting a corner kick on their end of the field. As the ball came in I saw Tris on the near side post, the ball was coming towards her when all of the sudden Eric elbow collides with her head which then ricochets off the goal post. Tris crumples to the ground.

**A/N - Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is longer for you. I will update every few days. Let me know what you think! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own divergent, just my ideas.**

Tris POV

I am lying on the ground. Why am I lying on the ground? I look around and everyone is staring down at me wearing red and blue pennies. I see the goal. Gym class, we were playing soccer…it all comes rushing back to me. I start to sit up and a wave of vertigo hits me. I cannot get up and everyone is still staring at me.

"All right, that's it for the day," coach yells.

Christina moves closer, bending down to assist me.

"Showers, Ms. Walker," coach says, "Four come here. You haven't done anything the entire period. Help her to the nurse's office."

Coach walks away and I look up at Four. He starts toward me, bends down and starts sliding one hand under my legs. Oh my god, he is not seriously going to carry me there, I think to myself. I force myself to get up, and immediately stumble. Strong arms catch me.

"Woah there killer," Four laughs setting me back upright.

I hold the goal post for balance and look up at him. His deep blue eyes bore into mine.

"We need to get you to the nurse to be checked out," he says finally.

"I'm feeling much better actually," I lie.

"Really?" he exaggerates the word, "so that's why you have the death grip on that post there?"

He smirks, then it softens into a sweet smile.

"Let's go," he says indicating with his head toward the school.

I start and continue to stumble. God, I am dizzy.

"I promise I won't try to carry you, just let me help?" he says softly reaching an arm around me and holding my waist.

Four POV

I reach around her and grasp her waist securely, but tenderly. I am going to murder Eric later. I can't believe how hard he hit her. Who hits a girl?

We make it to the nurse's office and Tris attempts to get onto the table, I grab her by the waist and place her on top of it. She gives me a shile smile.

"Thanks"

The nurse walks in.

"So, what happened here," she inquires.

"In gym I.." Tris starts but then trails off. She gives me a questioning look.

"She was hit in the head during our soccer game...and then her head hit the goal post," I supplement her answer.

The nurse examines Tris for a concussion. After the pupil dilation test and the memory testing, the nurse announces that she does in fact have a concussion.

"Tris, you are dismissed for the rest of the day. I'll call home to have someone come and pick you up," the nurse says.

Tris leaps off the table, "You don't need to do that."

"Most students are generally appreciative when I dismiss them for the day," she says to Tris suspiciously.

"I just started school here and I am already behind in all of my classes and need to get assignments and caught up," Tris rambles as she moves towards the door, "really, I'll be fine."

The nurse looks surprised but doesn't say anything as Tris exits the office. I follow her and see her standing in the hallway holding her head.

"Why didn't," I start.

"How do I get back to the gym? I need to get my clothes from my locker," she cuts me off.

Why did she not just take the day off, I mean, so you are behind, one more day won't change anything. My face must register my confusion because she mutters what sounds like nevermind and stalks off. What is with her?

Tris POV

I must look like a lunatic, wandering the halls in my gym clothes, peering at every sign I see for a directional clue. Someone grabs my waist.

"Tris," Four says looking down at me, "are you alright?"

His face has a look of genuine concern. Why hasn't he just walked away by now? I barely know him, it's not like he volunteered to babysit me to the nurse's office, he was ordered by coach. Nothing in his demeanor in the past few hours have indicated he is an especially caring person. That is, until now.

"I'm fine. I just don't remember how to get to the gym."

He leads me down a few hallways, occasionally putting some pressure on my waist to straighten my path, and we end up in front of the girls locker room.

"Thanks," I smile.

I grab my clothes out of the locker and quickly rinse off in the shower. I loosely braid my hair so it will dry in a non-disastrous manner and get dressed. I am exhausted and am tempted to just lie down on the bench, but I grab my bag and walk out straight into Four waiting by the door.

His strong arms stop me again from falling over; apparently, I need to keep a tally of how many times he is going to do that today.

"Sorry, I was about to come in and check that you didn't end up passing out," he explained.

"You didn't have to wait," I say meekly, embarrassed of the hindrance I must be to him.

"How were you going to find your way to your next class otherwise?" he points out, adding, "and I didn't mind."

He shoves his hands in his pockets nervously as he says the last part. I look up shyly at him.

"So what do you have seventh period," he asks.

I pull my schedule out and look at it, "Study Hall," I reply.

"Convenient, me too. Library it is then."

**A/N - What are we thinking? Good? Bad? Thanks for reading and reviewing :)**


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